Frank Frazetta vs. Boris Vallejo

As someone very interested in concept art and illustration, I find myself constantly debating who my favorite artist is. I do know that some of my favorite illustrators are in the fantasy art field, and who else has had more of an influence on fantasy art than Frank Frazetta? Now if you are unfamiliar with Frazetta, you can click on the the following link to check out his work: http://frankfrazetta.org/

Fantasy art as a genre of painting can include anything from sci-fi art for book covers to action-adventure illustration. Frazetta was considered one the masters in his day, creating vivid pictures with compelling artistry. What I admire most about his paintings is not only his impeccable draftsmanship, but the movement he conveys in his compositions. The strength of Frazetta's design skills lie in his ability to accentuate certain elements of a picture that are necessary and neglecting unnecessary details.

This brings up one of my other favorite artists, Boris Vallejo. In the fantasy art arena, Vallejo is another giant. Like Frazetta, his work represents the human figure flawlessly, almost reminiscent of the Old Masters. The main difference between the two revolves around execution. Frazetta's work is more general and spontaneous, while Vallejo's work is meticulously detailed. Each style has merits and I love them both, but I have to give a nod to Frazetta. I say this because Vallejo's detail-oriented style can sometimes be his biggest weakness, resulting in static pictures. Here is a link to Vallejo's site, where you can make your choice of whose style you prefer: http://vallejo.ural.net/